


Skipping Stones

by Yhles_the_Unpronounceable



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora and Catra Mentioned and Relevant but Not Present, Angst, Feelings, Fluff, Glimbow, Multi, Post-Canon, The Kids Have a Lot to Sort Out, With Residual Glimmadora Feelings, bless 'em
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25230388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yhles_the_Unpronounceable/pseuds/Yhles_the_Unpronounceable
Summary: Bow knew Glimmer. He knew her better than he knew himself. He knew every one of her smiles. He knew every one of her grins, and exactly how much trouble she was about to cause with each one. Whenever she got that faraway look in her eyes, more often than not he knew exactly what thought was its cause.So when Glimmer had pressed close to him in that final battle and uttered those little words, he knew what it really meant.Glimmer loved Adora. She had loved Adora for a long time. Bow knew it like he knew her favorite color. Glimmer likely was not able to admit it to herself, especially not now, but Bow had seen it. He’d seen the way her eyes lingered on Adora, the way she touched Adora, how she was always eager to help Adora with her hair or get her to try new clothes.And only when it became clear that Adora’s heart belonged with another… only then had Glimmer thrown herself into Bow’s arms and told him she loved him.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74





	Skipping Stones

Exhausted though he was, Bow couldn’t sleep. It had been a big day for him; a big day for all of Etheria. His poor bruised body ached for sleep, but his mind would not relinquish its hold on consciousness as he lay in bed. His head spun endlessly with thoughts of the future, thoughts of how much had changed this day, thoughts of just how close they had all come to losing everything.

One particular thought stuck in his mind like a thorn.

Bow pushed himself out of his bed. If he wasn’t going to get any sleep, he may as well get some fresh air.

Bright Moon was quiet. That was to be expected, of course. Nobody was here except Bow and his friends; Glimmer had teleported them to the castle to sleep in real beds, but she could not teleport the whole rebellion. Others would no doubt arrive later, either by foot or as Glimmer went back for them. For now, though, the entire population of Bright Moon consisted of the Best Friend Squad, Glimmer’s dad, and her aunt Castaspella (who intended to depart for Mystacor in the morning).

Outside, the air thrummed with the chirp of insects and the braying of animals awoken from a thousand-year slumber. It formed a tuneless melody that washed over Bow as he climbed down over the rocky outcroppings that led down to the shore.

The shallow lake that surrounded Bright Moon was still and glassy tonight. It reflected the moons above as clearly as a mirror. Even the stars sparkled in the water’s surface, and for a while as Bow stared out, he was reminded of being in space, with those distant lights in every direction and the world he knew shrinking behind him until it was indistinguishable from the million other little specks in the void.

Bow shivered, though the night air was not particularly cool. He knelt down at the shore to pick out a smooth flat stone.

_Skip...skip, skip, skip skipskip_

The stone broke the stillness of the water. As the ripples caused the stars to wobble and fade, Bow finally allowed his mind to touch upon the thought that kept plaguing him.

Bow knew Glimmer. He knew her better than he knew himself. He knew every one of her smiles. He knew every one of her grins, and exactly how much trouble she was about to cause with each one. Whenever she got that faraway look in her eyes, more often than not he knew exactly what thought was its cause.

So when Glimmer had pressed close to him in that final battle and uttered those little words, he knew what it really meant.

Bow chose another stone from the shore and tossed it, keeping the reflected stars at bay for a little longer.

_Skip… skip-skip, splash_

Glimmer had admired Adora ever since the day they’d met. At least, once she’d been convinced Adora was not a Horde spy. She admired Adora’s strength, her courage, her unwavering resolve to do the right thing no matter what. She admired Adora’s wide-eyed wonder and curiosity when confronted with a world that was so much wider and richer than what she’d been raised to believe.

Bow knew the day – practically the exact hour, though he hadn’t been in the room to witness it – Glimmer’s admiration of Adora had softened into something closer to affection. When Adora and the other princesses had come to the Fright Zone to rescue him and Glimmer, Adora had surrendered herself in hopes of saving her. When that failed, when Shadow Weaver was about to remove Adora’s memories of the rebellion, of Glimmer and Bow, and _reset_ her like she was some piece of faulty tech, Bow knew that was the moment Glimmer was forced to reckon with how much Adora mattered to her. How unacceptable the idea was that Adora’s memories of her could be tampered with in that way. Adora was more than just a powerful ally of the rebellion. She was more than a friend who might one day grow distant as time and life pulled them in different directions.

Glimmer loved Adora. She had loved Adora for a long time. Bow knew it like he knew her favorite color. Glimmer likely was not able to admit it to herself, especially not now, but Bow had seen it. He’d seen the way her eyes lingered on Adora, the way she touched Adora, how she was always eager to help Adora with her hair or get her to try new clothes.

And only when it became clear that Adora’s heart belonged with another… only then had Glimmer thrown herself into Bow’s arms and told him she loved him.

Bow didn’t doubt that she loved him. Glimmer hadn’t lied about that. But he knew it hadn’t been some revelation she only just realized that day. Nor had it been a confession prompted by the prospect of the end of the world and the loss of any last chances to say it. No. He knew that the catalyst had been seeing Catra come back for Adora. Seeing the resolve in the woman’s eyes as she pushed on to either save Adora or die trying, and realizing beyond a shadow of a doubt that _that_ was who Adora loved, and who Adora was going to spend the rest of her life with.

Glimmer wanted Adora. She’d wanted to be the one with Adora, holding her close at the end of the world. And once she knew that would never happen, she’d chosen Bow. He was her consolation prize. Her second choice.

Bow held onto the next stone, wondering if he would feel a sting of jealousy accompany that thought. But as the crickets chirped, he found all he could muster up was pity.

Poor Glimmer. It wasn’t her fault she’d fallen in love with Adora. Adora was easy to like and easy to love. She gave so much of herself to everyone around her, and asked nothing in return; was so boundlessly grateful for any kindness given back to her. And it wasn’t Adora and Catra’s fault for loving each other. Try as she might, Glimmer was not a match for the one person in Adora’s life who had loved her _before_ she’d known about her destiny as She-Ra.

_Skip… skip… skip, skip, skip skip Clack!_

The stone skipped all the way across the lake and clattered against the far shore. A bird, startled by the noise, burst from the underbrush and flew off into the night.

Bow sighed. He needed to speak to Glimmer about this. Friendship required a strong basis of trust and honesty. Love, he was fairly certain, did too. But he couldn’t imagine how to even begin to bring this up in a way that didn’t hurt Glimmer, or Adora, or Catra, or all three.

_“Hey, Glimmer, I know you said you loved me, but we both know you really wanted Adora. Tough luck on that, huh?”_ Yeah. That would go over well.

_“Oh, hey, Catra. Maybe go easy on Glimmer for a little bit. She’s secretly pining after your new girlfriend. Good job saving the universe with your love, though!”_ Yikes. Did he _want_ them to be at each others’ throats?

_“Adora! Hey, listen. I don’t want to alarm you or anything, but you’re maybe sorta definitely at the center of a love triangle between your oldest childhood friend who saved your life with the power of love and the girl who has been your best friend for the past three years and at your side for every important life lesson you’ve learned since escaping the abusive militaristic regime that raised you. I don’t have any actual advice for what to do with that information, but I thought you should know. Good luck sleeping ever again!”_ Bow was pretty certain that would just kill Adora. She would drop dead right there on the spot from all the stress.

_Sploosh!_

Bow paused, blinking at the ripples in the lake. He hadn’t thrown that one.

He looked behind himself to see Glimmer, dressed in her night-gown. “Hey,” she murmured, a sleepy smile on her face. “I still don’t know how you get those to skip like that.”

Bow smiled and walked back to her. “It’s all in the wrist,” he said.

“Everyone always says that, but I don’t know what that means I should _do_ with my wrist,” Glimmer said, flexing her wrists. “Do I hold it steady? Do I snap my wrist back and forth when I throw? _What’s_ all in the wrist?”

Bow wrapped his arms around Glimmer, and she leaned her head back against his chest.

“Hey,” she said. “You weren’t in your bed.”

He rested his chin on top of her head. “I needed to think.”

They both stared out over the starlit lake. “There’s a lot to think about, isn’t there?” Glimmer said.

Bow nodded. They both sat down on the shore, neither of them minding the slight dampness of the pebbles beneath them. After hiding in the wilderness for so long, a few wet stones by the lakeside were hardly cause for discomfort. They remained in each others’ arms in silence for a while, just listening to the song of the night echo across the valley. Bow smelled the lilies and timothy grass in the air and the soft notes of vanilla and cardamom wafting from Glimmer’s hair.

“So...” Bow said at length. “Adora and Catra, huh?”

Glimmer’s chest shook with a giggle. “Right? Who saw _that_ coming? Like, I’m pretty sure no two people on Etheria have tried to kill each other more times than they have! And now...” She sighed. “They sure seem happy now, don’t they?”

Bow nodded. It would be easy to let that conversation end there. He was tired, Glimmer was tired, and to say that they’d faced one hell of a day already would be the understatement of the century. It would be understandable – _responsible,_ even – to put off the hard part of this talk for another time. But he suspected that if he couldn’t gather the courage to bring it up now, he may never.

“Glimmer...” Bow began, not quite sure how he would finish. “You and Adora have always been close.”

“We’re all close, dummy.” Glimmer elbowed him in the ribs. “We’re the Best Friend Squad.”

Bow smiled, but he didn’t take the out. “I’ve known for… for quite a while that Adora means more to you than just a friend. You’re in love with her.”

He felt her stiffen against him. “Bow...” she whispered.

“I’m not mad, okay? I want you to know that I’m not mad, or jealous or anything. I just… I know that you wanted her to feel the same way for you, and now that she’s with Catra...” Bow’s voice cracked as his throat started to feel dry. He coughed, and it did very little to clear the swollen lump building there. “I… don’t want you to be with me just to keep yourself from thinking about her. I _want_ to be with you, Glimmer, I really do. But not like that. I would rather that we just stay as friends, keep what we’ve got. And maybe later, in the future, if you really want me because I’m me and not just because I’m not Adora… maybe then we can try.”

Glimmer drew in a long breath and let it out very slowly. “I… sometimes I wonder how it might have been different if Adora knew. If I’d have found a way to tell her. It just never seemed to be the right time. There was always something in the way. The war. Her destiny. And then Mom sacrificed herself and I became queen… then we had our fight, and then before I could apologize I was a million miles away from her. And when Catra came back into her life… there was no contest. I knew in a heartbeat who she would choose if it came down to me or Catra.”

She raised herself out of Bow’s lap and turned to face him, holding his hands in hers just as her eyes held his. It made Bow’s heart twist in his chest when he saw the tears rolling over her cheeks, but she just smiled through them. “When Catra came back for Adora at the Heart… when I saw the look in her eyes, I knew what was going to happen. Maybe not exactly how, but I knew what I saw in her eyes. That was love, pure and powerful. Nothing was going to stop her from getting to Adora. And do you know what I realized in that moment?”

Glimmer took Bow’s hand and cupped it to her cheek. “I realized that there was only one person I could ever imagine feeling that fiercely about. One person who could ever give me that kind of look in my eyes. And it wasn’t Adora.”

Bow felt his own eyes sting with tears. “Glimmer...”

“It’s okay if you think we should take our time,” she said. “I can wait as long as I need to. But I do love you for you, and not as a replacement for Adora. I love the boy who has been my best friend since I learned what the word ‘friend’ meant. I love the brilliant, brave rebellion fighter who never, ever gives up on his friends. I love the beautiful, kind man who is always there with soft words of encouragement for anyone who needs to hear them. And when you’re ready, Bow… I’ll be here.”

Bow pulled Glimmer close, wrapping his arms around her back. He felt her chest rise and fall and he felt her knot her fingers behind his back. He felt her pulse hammering through her skin where their arms touched, as though reaching out of her body for him. Or maybe that was his own pulse he felt, reaching toward her instead.

Perhaps he didn’t know quite everything about Glimmer, after all. Perhaps she was still able to surprise him, even after all these years.

Perhaps he wanted to find out how else she might surprise him in the years to come.

**Author's Note:**

> I am working on a longer, multi-chapter fic that I will eventually be able to start posting without fear of never finishing it. But until that is ready, I keep getting little shorter-form scenes/ideas that don't really fit into the longer story.
> 
> So have this for now, and who knows how many more bite-sized fics I'll write before the big one takes shape. Honestly, I'm just happy to be writing again!


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